


Healing

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2672648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stages of the relationship between Nick Fury and Job Streiten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure what my intentions were, but I had to write this pairing.

_The Beginning_

 

Doctor Job Steiten- he liked the way that sounded. He was not a fan of the gunfire or the shouting, or the gasp of pain emitting from Colonel Fury as Job fished the bullet out of his leg. But what had he expected, honestly? He wanted to help people; the army seemed as good a place as any. He knew it would be chaotic. He knew it wouldn’t be pretty. He knew what he signed up for. Of course, knowing and experiencing are two very different things. Colonel Fury and Doctor Streiten- he liked the way that sounded too, though now was not the time. "Thanks for your help," said Fury, and he hopped off the stretcher and jumped back into the fray, despite the doctor’s protests.

That was their first meeting. They would meet several more times in a similar fashion, never talking much but looking, silently communicating longing and possession and promise.

 

_Shield_

 

There was never a Colonel Fury and Doctor Streiten, nor even a Director Fury and Doctor Streiten, but there was a Nick and Job. They wouldn’t lose each other to the war, so they waited until they were home for good. Of course, Nick was immediately snatched by Shield, guided under Peggy Carter’s lovingly militant wing. She had the two of them over for dinner once. She offered Job a job.

"No thank you, ma’am. One of us needs to stay sane."

"He's my civilian."

The job offers didn’t stop there. He avoided Shield as long as he could. Not easy, when Nick practically breathed the place, but necessary, especially when Nick was so good at evading the doctors they had on staff. Their apartment was essentially a hospital, for all the times Job had to sew stiches and mend bones when Nick came home. He heard from Peggy that the doctors didn’t like Nick. He was difficult and uncooperative. Job never had any problems with him. Nick sat still and stayed quiet while Job patched him up. Nick was picky about doctors and didn't trust ones he hadn't picked. Job was beginning to understand why Peggy was so eager to hire him.

Job became intimately familiar with the work Nick did at Shield through the injuries he sustained. If he had a say he wouldn't let Nick work there. It reminded him too much of the war.The night after Peggy officially retired and Nick officially became director, Job got a call from one of Nick’s friends from work, Alexander Pierce, whom he'd met once or twice before. "Sorry to bother you so late, but we need you to come down here. Nick’s been in an accident and if he doesn’t let someone operate soon, well… just get down here quick, okay?"

Job saved Nick's eye but not his sight. He sent the harassed and teary-eyed doctors home. He didn’t work here but they seemed to have no problem letting him take command. He let Pierce and Coulson (a new one) back into the room. Job stood at Nick’s blind side, fussing with the bandages. There was nothing for him to do at the moment, but he didn’t want to leave. Pierce stood next to him, arms folded, smiling critically. "Nicely done, doctor." Coulson crept around to Nick’s good eye, to see if he was awake. Nick had a lot of anesthetic and pain killers swimming through his system; he wouldn’t wake up for a while yet. Job was looking forward to yelling at him for stupid childishness; this paranoia would kill him sooner than save him. He never got the chance. The second Nick woke up, he grabbed Job’s hand and kissed it. "You’re hired," he said, and passed out again. And that, because he was Director Fury now, was that.

 

_Trouble_

 

Job had his eye on a big beautiful corner house. He could afford it. His parents were extremely hard working and a little bit lucky, two traits he’d inherited apparently. But it made Nick, who was less lucky in that respect, uncomfortable. "I don’t want to live in a castle." No, because Shield was his castle, Job thought. But it wasn’t Job’s castle and he wanted one of his own. He was protecting the world too and he wanted to live in it, he wanted to be within arm’s reach of the people he worked so hard to save every day, not distance himself the way Nick had taken to. But Nick had a change of heart when Howard and Maria Stark died. Job was surprised. Nick had lost touch with them over the last few years, but after the funeral he said, "Castle’s ours." But it wasn’t really Nick’s. He moved his things into the house but stayed at work most of the time. Job kept normal working hours and ate breakfast and dinner at home like a normal person. Nick rarely joined him. Often Job woke up when Nick crawled into bed at two in the morning.

Job retired from Shield early and took a civilian job, though it turned out to be only temporary. He was behind what Shield stood for but trusted it better when he was amongst the people they protected. The hands-on approach, so to speak. Nick came home earlier. They ate meals together, they watched T.V. together, they went to bed together. They had sex a lot more and even went on dates now and again. Nick needed a civilian in order for him to be one, and Job was more than happy to fill that role. He didn't have to patch Nick up so much anymore, except for assassination attempts. Directorhood made him more adept at dodgingthese attempts kept him behind a desk most of the time anyway. He talked about the Avengers Initiative. Jon supported it whole-heartedly.

Then the aliens landed in New York. Nick staggered in at two in the morning, tired and rumpled. "I need your help."

The Tahiti project. Nick never told him about it until now, and he knew why. Job would have pushed against it the whole way. Nick didn’t answer a single question he asked. Who was behind the project? How long has it been tested? Is this what Coulson wanted? Why was it so important to Nick that Coulson not stay dead?

"Shield needs him. Shield will always need him. Bring him back."

Job lived at Shield until the procedure worked. He went home dazed and sick. He had nightmares, Coulson begging and screaming, Nick standing there and watching. He slept with the Bible on the pillow next to him, willing the words to enter him while he dreamt and absolve him. He told Nick to find some place else to stay. He couldn't forget Nick watching, arms folded, brow determined, biting the insides of his cheeks while Coulson screamed and Job protested. He cleared Coulson fit for field duty and quit for the second and final time.

 

"I need your help."

Job was home late from an evening service. Nick was standing in the kitchen with a glass of whisky. Job was mildly annoyed. He knew better than to be alarmed. He hung his coat over one of the chairs.

"Coulson might come here looking for answers. Thought you should know."

Job appreciated the warning, though he wouldn't admit it out loud.

"I can’t order you not to tell him anything," Nick continued.

Job heard soft music drifting from the living room. The sound was clear, so it was from his own stereo. Nick normally used his own portable radio, about twenty years old, happy to fiddle with it until it worked. He refused to replace it. Job found it endearing, though the staticy quality of the sound annoyed him. "What help do you need?"

Nick stumbled over, and Job wondered just how much whisky he’d had. "Dance with me." Nick took Job’s hand into his own, and rested his other hand and his chin on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Job asked, refusing to budge.

"Dance with me."

Job reluctantly obliged, swaying them gently to the music. He didn't want to give the impression that everything was okay, because it wasn't. Nick standing uninvited in his kitchen, drunk, did not make things better. But, "What help do you need?"

Nick wrapped his arms around his neck and leaned on him heavily. "I love you. I need you to understand why... do you understand?"

"No."

Nick choked on a sob.

"What help do you need?"

"My head. I can't sleep. My head hurts."

Job got Nick settled on the couch. He'd let him sleep there for the night, if it meant he'd sleep at all. Job was still a doctor after all. He didn't have anything for headaches though. Nick grabbed his hand before he left. "You'd sleep better if you understood." So why wasn't Nick sleeping? Coulson was waiting in Job's car when he left.

 

_Doctor Simon Ross_

 

"Nope. Sorry, sir. I'm the other one."

Nick's brain was taking a while to work. He blinked groggily and looked around for Job. Someone was holding his wrist. He assumed it was Job. When his eyes focused, he realised it was Ross. Well, that was fine, he supposed. Not that he had a choice. Job had disappeared and Nick knew better than to look for him. Ross was the only other doctor Nick trusted, especially now. Ross was notoriously good with difficult patients. Coulson brought him in, introducing him as his cousin. Nick had met him once before that, when he visited Job at work after quitting the first time. Job and Ross were friendly but constantly debating ethics. Ross fit into Shield better than Job had, but Nick would have preferred Job right now.

"You're very lucky. With the injuries you sustained, I'm sure slowing slowing your heartbeat would have killed anyone else."

 

_In-Betweens_

 

"Anyone ever tell you you look like a priest?"

That had been Job's plan, initially, though he felt that being a healer was essentially the same thing.

"Are you familiar with Asclepius?"

Job wasn't, particularly, though he knew Nick was fascinated by him.

 

Coulson was beginning to nod off.

"You might as well go home," Job told him. "He won't wake up again for a while."

"I'm fine."

Job and Pierce exchanged a look.

"You're still in the academy, aren't you?" Pierce said.

Coulson nodded.

"Pretty risky move, taking you out into the field."

"Well, we're not dead."

Pierce's eyes twinkled in understanding. Job's brow furrowed in concern. Nick slept peacefully.

 

They danced in the kitchen, Nick leading as per normal. They laughed. They always felt rediculous, doing romantic stuff like this. Nick twirled him and pulled him in for a kiss.

 

"We found Thor's hammer."

"Thor?"

"Yes. The world is that big. Are you scared?"

Job didn't know. "Are you?"

 

"Shield needs him. He's the heart."

"Are you in love with him?"

Nick was genuinely startled by the question. "No."

 

Nick swallowed the pills gratefully. "You won't be safe here much longer. Something's going to happen. And then maybe you'll understand."

Job fled to Tahiti. It seemed oddly fitting.

 

_The End_

 

"The path of the rightous man..."

It was not the verse Job would have chosen, not anymore. But what did he know? He lost track of Nick when he joined Shield.

He understood now. At least he thought he did, though sending him here was a touch too dramatic for Job's tastes.

"Well, I'm off. I have agents to save. And this time I'll do it your way."

"I'll be here."

 


End file.
